TLOBH- Episode 3

The Legend of Black Howling


Episode 3: Those Who Hunt Wolves (Part II)


Upon returning to the battlefield…
As time had faded into mere illusion for both man and beast. The wolves had tenaciously held their ground, however with every pale masked human that fell, five more would take his place as if they were vengeful souls born of of the underworld. Their minds only saw blackness as their eyes saw nothing but the redness that drenched their blades they wielded. Gone was the fear, gone was their concern for their well being for now they acknowledged no friend, no ally. Nothing but the undying flames of hatred and the sights of an enemy who will be subjected their wrath. However, the wolves had no intention of  submiting to their murderous whims, even as they slashed, hammered, stabbed, bruised and pierced full of arrows they were determined to give the humans one battle they will never forget.
“ARGH!” a human cried, feeling the force of an unexpected from behind. With his balance compromised, he found himself plummeting face first into a puddle. But as he lifted his head from the surface of the puddle he found himself being forced back into the murkiness of water by a paw. Asphyxiated, the young man mumbled and gurgled, sending bubbles to the water's surface while his body struggled to breath. Upon his tussling body was that of a wolf most majestic with legs as powerful as the currents made escape a rather futile effort. The words of Lance like that of a consistent songbird, repeating itself over and over again within the crevices of his mind. All that talk about  his age and his well being were nothing more than absolute poppycock. The blood of a thousand heroes runs deep in his veins, this was where he belong, fighting valiantly alongside his Guards. Not to mention he had not the audacity to show his face before the Council should they gain the knowledge that he had taken flight with his tail between his legs. With his fangs barred, a ferocious growl rumbled in the depths of his throat. The drenched grayness of his pelt bore noticeable signs of fading, concealed behind were the scars left by man, saber and his fellow wolves, now made filthy by a mixture of blood and mud. Hues of dull gray which had once laid eyes on the countless winters that had passed him by, burned with the rage born from the undying love and devotion for his pack.
“YIELD HUMAN AND I WILL SPARE YOU!” the wolf snarled, knowing well enough the human had no possible way of comprehending him.
The human continued to struggle through the deliberate suffocation, his hands flipping frantically upon the surface of the mud. He searched for something, anything that he could use to break free. Just as he felt his lungs were about to erupt, his palm stumbled upon what appears to be something rough and jagged to the touch.  He could be not bothered to what it is, only that it was solid. Making good use of his other arm for leverage, he held on to the object for dear life as he mustered up the last of his strength. With a hard push against the ground, he felt his torso lift a full inch before he swung around and clobbering the wolf over the head. The very face of the elder contorted from the pain, his teeth gritted feeling the hardness of the rock slamming into his very cranium.
POW!
“ARGH!”
Pulling his face from the turbid puddle, a desperate gasp for breath escaped the masked man. The old wolf stumbled backwards, the warmness of his blood watered down by the rain rushed down between his eyes from the large gash on his forehead although he was fortunate that his skull had remained in tact. The wolf groaned, the very sounds and images had begun to fade to that of shadows and echoes, his knees grew weak effects of concussion. The human was left gagging and coughing, spluttering a nauseating goop of saliva and mucus which dribbled from the bottom of his mask. Through the slits of his mask, he gazed upon the wolf with absolute hatred. It was when he realized that a wolf had almost done him in did the fear of death began to dissipate. His soul faded into the blackness, there was nothing, nothing more but a savage desire to rip that that beast in half, even if he had to do it with his bare hands. With a maddened expression and a war cry to march, the young man reached for his elongated weapon and stumbled onto his feet and immediately made an all out charge in the direction of the wolf. The elder had barely regained his composure when he caught sight of the human now drunk with rage, just in time to dodge the the obsidian tip of his spear. The tip had barely nicking several strands of his fur barely inches from where his heart could have been. The wolf scoffed, with his jaws wide open, he bit down hard on the wooden shaft of the spear, a reaction that left the human stunned for a brief moment. With a somewhat loosed grip, the wolf seized his chance, pushing forward he slammed the butt of the spear into the belly of the man. The human could feel the very walls of his stomach cave it from the impact, a large splutter of saliva spluttered onto the surface behind his mask. The involuntary convulsion  had paralyzed and almost instantly he felt his knees came into contact with the ground.  The eyes of the wolf narrowed with such feral aggression, the crunching sounds of splintering wood was heard the moment he snapped the obsidian blade from the tip of the spear. The very pupils of the human dilated, begrudging frame by frame of a sequence that was soon to be his last. With speed and precision, the wolf dashed forward and stabbed the blade into the head of the man through his very temple. The ever so sickening sounds of the diamond sharp obsidian, slicing through his very bone , flesh and brain, exiting about an inch from the other side as it was buried deep within the depths of his skull. Streams of blood exited from the very slits of his mask, staining the purplish markings of cherry blossom petals painted upon the porcelain surface. The human had passed on long before he hit the ground, with the rather sympathetic eyes of the gray eyed Alpha watching over his now lifeless corpse.
“Cast no blame on me and my kind human, for it is you who have sealed your own fate. May the Spirits welcome you into their embrace,” said the wolf.
As his gaze shifted to that of yet another of the pale face humans, his ears though slightly deteriorated from the hindrance of aging caught a most familiar sound. Swift, sharp and almost too silent to be that of a paw or a leather boot, however a moment too late the moment he had realized its true identity.
SWOOSH!
SCHAMP!
“AH!” cried the wolf, the piercing sensation of an arrow as black as a raven's back had caught him in his left shoulder, causing him to stumble several steps sideways. He barely regained his foothold when yet another caught him in the side.
SCHAMP!
“EGH!”
No longer able to maintain his balance, the elder took a rather hard tumble to the ground. The pain was overpowering, almost as if the very heads of these arrow have been specially made to constrict movement by causing excruciating pain. He should know, trying to move his shoulder was a big mistake. No sooner than that, through the rhythm of the falling rain, the wolf heard what appears to be the subtle sounds of footsteps upon the shallow puddles accompanied by a hollowed sinister chuckle, almost demonic to the tone causing his fur stand on end. Groaning ever so slightly, he had to force his attention in the direction of the approaching entity. It was without a doubt, a human, from his patchwork coat to the pale red marked porcelain mask that was worn over his face. However there was something different about this one, something stronger than far more deadlier than the other masked humans that he had slain. His demon-like aura was like a poison, a malevolent cocktail of darkness and sin spiraling endlessly within his very soul. The wolf felt the icy fingers of terror began to take hold for there was no mistaking it, he was the one, the master of the Black Moon.
“Ergh”
“Well, well, well if it isn’t the great, mighty, and if I may add... legendary Greyback. The one and only Alpha of Inaria himself, such an honor to finally make your acquaintance,” said Orion, removing yet another arrow from his quiver before casually twirling it with his fingers.
His lips curled into a snarl, eyes a glaring the wolf now known as Greyback fought through the pain, forcing his very muscles to lift himself off the ground. However just as he was about to mount an attack,
SCHAMP!
“ARGH!”
The arrow had embedded itself into his hind leg and caused him tip over yet again. The elder had no idea how he could have strung and fired that projectile so quickly and with such precision. At this distance, any of his vital parts were a dead on target, he could have even shot him right between the eyes and yet there was an apparent sense of hesitation.
“Tsk.. tsk… tsk, sorry about that old chap but I can’t have you jumping on me and ripping my neck wide open now, can I?”
It grew even more apparent that he was deranged, with each and every one of those words spoken as if it were was coated and uttered with a tone of dementia. Dull gray hues were half lidded, his ears pressed pathetically against his cranium as the thumps of Orion's heavy sounds of boots grew louder and closer to immobilized alpha. Behind the porcelain mask, a smile formed by his rather twisted sense of excitement began to take shape, sliding another arrow out the well stitched leather quiver mounted on his back.  Like the triumphant hunter, he stood proudly over his would be trophy while he strung it effortlessly to his bow. Greyback could do nothing other than groan, his fate to be determined by the pale faced human.
“I bet you were wondering why didn't I kill you when I had the chance. True, I could have killed you a hundred times over from where I was standing. As a matter of fact, I could have shot you right into the gates of Hell itself from over that hill... but I didn't, and you know why?” said Orion, the edge of his lips curling into a depraved sneer.
The man then lowered himself into a squat about a foot from Greyback's head, near enough to catch a better glimpse of the wolf but a safe enough distance to avoid getting bit if the wolf had even the slightest of strength to spare.
“Because I wanted to see it, see it with my own two eyes. To watch you bleed, choke, the way you will writhe and suffer as you draw your final breaths watching me spill your wolfish guts all across the floor!” the malicious hunter who proceeded to laugh uncontrollably, amused by sentence he had just uttered. With a slap on his thigh, Orion climbed to his feet although his incessant monologue may be far from over.  
“You know, stories of you have fascinated my people for a very, very long time. Stories of valor, bravery, how you valiantly led the Alliance to victory against the mighty hoards of the spear tooth cats during the Great War.  Apparently, many have have taken your stories to heart, some of my people even idolize you, especially the children,”
Then, without warning, without a shred of pity, compassion or remorse, he swung the sharp end of his boot into Greyback in the stomach. Hard enough to send him sliding several inches along the slippery surface of the ground.
POW!
“ARGH!” cried Greyback. His eyes screwed shut, almost watering from the indescribable pain and agony that had been inflicted to his abdomen. Coughing out the the repulsive mixture of blood and saliva through his maw.
“You want to know what I think about that… IT’S SICK! IT’S DISGUSTING! AND IT’S JUST DOWNRIGHT WRONG!” he yelled at the top of his voice. His arms had began to tremble, his fingers began to flex over and over again displaying an overly dramatic gesture that he had been disgusted beyond believe.
“Idolizing a wolf... such lunacy, such foolishness, such... such... such IDIOCY! IT TURNS MY INSIDES OUT! You wolves are nothing more than monsters!”
“Uh…” groaned Greyback
“For as long as I could remember, that very thought had caused me undue irritation, like a rash from poison ivy but one that would never go away. But the scratching ends, right here and right now!” said Orion, his eyes widening with excitement.
For even before he had stopped talking, the pale faced hunter had already begun to pull back on his bow. Greyback could hear the the amplified sounds of the overly long ebony shaft stretching, growing louder and louder from the tension. Through his blurry vision, he laid his eyes upon the maliciously shaped arrowhead that had been aimed directly at his head.
“Do you know what I intend to do once I finish you off? Well, if my Brothers hadn't already done away with the rest of the Alphas, I’ll hunt them down personally and stick them full of arrows too. The Spirits smile upon me this day my dear Alpha of Inaria, having all your detestable friends in one convenient location when here I was at my wits end, pondering on how to cox you insufferable cowards out of hiding,”
Orion snickered, on and off, every nerve in his body flaring with his fingers itching to release their grip on the arrow but his arrogance held him back. How many wolves had he wasted in the past? How much blood has he spilled in the name of his twisted sense of justice and vengeance? Elders, males, females, not even the likes of newborns were spared from the holocaust. One by one he slaughtered them all, lost in the high by the sights and smell of the dying and decay he had left behind upon a bloodstained battleground. While death would embrace the fortunate, those who survived the initial attack would greet their rather abominable end in the form of wood, fire and sharp pieces of metal. Healthy females fit for breeding would be shipped off to the Underground, a fate far more atrocious than even the most gruesome mutilations Orion's twisted mind could possible concoct. Although murder may have earned him a pretty penny, no amount of gold, precious stones or treasures could ever acquire him another moment like this. No, he wanted to enjoy this, just for a little while longer.
“Five years... for five long years I sought nothing but this day. At long last, I will finally have my revenge, justice be done! Oh, and don’t worry about that precious little bitch of yours you left back home, she will be joining you soon enough!”
Greyback shot him down with a gaze of pure acrimony, he had to stop this raving madman, he had to do something, anything but his body had refused to abide. Only when his determination had begun to fade to absolute hopelessness did he allow the painful truth to be realized, it is over, this is where it ends.
“Inaria will tell of what happened here for generations to come and I will have your fangs to prove that it did. So ends the legendary Greyback, so ends the Alliance and so ends the wolf… YOU AND YOUR PACK DIE TOGETHER!!!!!”
The insuppressible itch in his trigger fingers had grown a little too much to bear and it was temptation he was no longer willing to resist appeasing, it was now or never. However, just as he was about to fire, something or someone came to the aid of the old Alpha. Pouncing from behind the watery veil of the storm came a figure, caught in Orion's blind spot it had managed to grab hold of his bow. The sudden unexpected jerk changed the trajectory of the arrow the moment it was released, the barbed metal tip missing Greyback's cranium by mere millimeters as  it buried itself several inches into the mud's surface.
“What in the name of...!?” cried the masked human
The surprise attack had left him  dazed and confused although it took him mere seconds to realize it was but another wolf, a lot smaller than the gray pelted beast he had intended to finish off. Her sandy brown fur and her white underside stained with the likes of mud along with the blood of the poor fool who had attempted to outmatch her fangs. She could feel her teeth began to sink into the glossy surface of the bow, attempting to wrestle and pry the the elongated weapon from his hands.
“Ke... Kee... Keeli?” said Greyback in disbelieve
“Hah! Well, well, would you look at that? Of all the sharp toothed, green eyed monsters infesting the ranks, they sent a little snot nose whelp to come rescue you! Now I've seen everything,” exclaimed Orion, amused by Keeli's bold attempt. However, despite her valiant efforts, despite her outrageous strength as a Blackblood dire, the human unexpectedly remained unmoved. The grip on his weapon was as hard as iron, even so the she-wolf  refused to admit defeat, panting and grunting as she continued to struggle, her teeth grinding, boring deeper and deeper into the bow and yet Orion remained as static as ever. However Orion's patience was wearing thin and it was about time he put an end to this farce.
“Was that your best shot pup? Now let me show you mine”
Keeli's eyes widened the moment she felt a powerful jerk forward and before she could react, she felt a terrible blow to her chest, enough to force a gag up to her throat. The sounds of her ribs fracturing upon impact the moment it came in contact with Orion's knee had loosed her grip on his bow. The man shot a rather dirty grin, twisting his torso he flung her face first into the mud. Keeli yelped the moment the hit the ground before rolling to a complete halt.
“No!” cried Greyback, his eyes wide in fear.
“I would so love to play with you right now but I have a current engagement to attend to and it would so, so rude to just leave him hanging like that. So why don't you be a nice little pup and wait your turn. Alright, now, where was I? ah yes,”
And even before the seasoned Alpha could blink, the hunter had strung another arrow and was ready to fire yet again. Immediately, he redirected his bow in the direction of Greyback head.
“BUH-BYE!” yelled Orion, releasing the arrow.
Then, barely seconds before the arrow could seal his fate, Greyback caught a streak of brown at the corner of his eye. Leaping to her paws despite being half blinded by the deep cut across her forehead, she threw herself brashly on top of him.
SCHACK!
“AAAAAAAARRRRGGGGGH!”
The sound of her cry was loud and long the moment the pierced right through her right hind leg. The screamed over and over again, gritting her teeth as she tried to hold back the tears. Hesitantly she forced herself to examine the extent of the damage but was forced to turn away. The had metal tip sliced right through her muscle, tendon and bone, the metal head exiting a clear inch from the other side, a little more and it would have gone right through her other leg as well. In a world of hurt, she just laid helplessly on her alpha, panting heavily. It was then, she heard Greyback voice.
“Why?...” asked Greyback, the tone of his voice grows weak.
The sandy pelted fae smiled a weak smile.
“It’s because I am a member of the Elite Guard, most of all I am Blackblood. Like my father, my mother, my sisters before me, I have taken an oath to protect you… even if it costs me my life” Keeli replied.
“I am old, I’ve lived my life. You have yet to have pups of your own, you need not share my fate. Leave me, get out of here while you still can,” said Greyback
“I’m afraid I cannot do that sir. For there is no greater dishonor for a wolf than one who would abandon her Alpha. I would live on only to bring shame to my pack, my family and my breed. Worse, it would bring disgrace to my sister,” said Keeli.
As alien as the tongue of wolves remain to the ears of man, the master had found his patience spread a little too thin to his liking. Dealing with a nuisance maybe one thing, to put up with one that insists on staying a thorn in his side is something he will not tolerate.
“Persistent little bitch aren't you!? Fine, if the end is what you seek then you can share a grave with that degenerate fossil you call Alpha!” Orion said, this time removing a total of four arrows from his quiver.
Greyback was taken back by her words, especially uttered by one so young. A gentle smile was upon him, realizing the fiery spirit reflected in her emerald eyes had reminded  him of a certain wolf in the past that shared her courage. Greyback shrugged, even with her honor at stake, he wanted her to escape, to live on. However, even if she could run,  there was no possible way of escaping Orion's arrows. It may seem that the only thing the old Alpha could do is to comfort her until the very end.
“Do not be afraid my dear, it will be quick,” said Greyback, his words faded to that of a whisper and his eyes drifted to a close.
“Alpha Greyback?... Alpha Greyback!” Keeli cried, her paws shaking the gray pelted wolf but to no avail, he was out cold.
The heart wrenching sounds of the bow being stretched returned her gaze to that of the human. Hues of emerald green began to widen the moment they found themselves staring down the entire shaft of those malicious metal points, so sharp, so lethal, so incredibly bloodthirsty. Only then did the courage the young pup began to melt away,  in its place terror began to take hold. It was a feeling so intense, she trembled and shook, completely petrified with fear. This was no joke, this human was going to kill her… she was going to die.
“Help… help me,” Keeli muttered.
Through the slits in his mask, she saw no mercy reflected within those eyes of his. No attempts of restraint, no trembles of hesitation even as he took aim.
“Sis... why didn’t I listen to you?… sis… please... help me… I don’t want to die…”  the young she-wolf muttered in an almost teary voice.
Her heart filled with regret, looking to where her rebellious, impulsive nature had gotten her. Tempted by pride and stubbornness, she accepted an offer to dance with death. Justifying her actions with words like honor, valor and self sacrifice but those were just bold words uttered by a silly pup. She was not ready and Swiftkill had tried to warn her but all had ever wanted to show her sister that she was just as strong, as brave and as  dexterous a fighter as she was. In the end, Swiftkill was right all along, Keeli was just a pup, still gray in the nose, wet behind the ears whelp who had no idea what she was getting into and now she will pay the ultimate price.
“Riptide… Bloodspill… someone…anyone… sis… Swiftkill… help me…”
Keeli whimpered as her tears were washed away in the rain.


The burgundy she-wolf searched high and low, dodging spears, arrows and blades while she drenched her fangs with the blood of ever two legged bastard that sought to obstruct her. She had circled the battlefield twice now, desperately trying to find her little sister and even as fatigue was beginning to take hold, her fear continued pushing her forward.
“KEELI!... KEELI, ANSWER ME!... KEELI, WHERE ARE YOU?!”l
Swiftkill’s throat felt dry and coarse from the countless cries for her sandy pelted sister,  well aware that her efforts would go to waste because of the rain. Even Keeli's scent would dissipate in all this water, making it almost impossible pick up even with her acute sense of smell. So blind, impaired and frustrated, the distraught female continued to search the battlefield, her nervous eyes frantically looking at every possible direction hoping to catch even the slightest signs of her sister.
“Please… mother, I beg of you please... please watch over her. Let her be safe, I don’t know what I would do if something were to happen to her,” Swiftkill uttered to herself.
The wolfess navigated her way through the chaos of the battlefield, desperate enough to ignore even the cries of the injured and the dying, man or beast. To her, the battle has lost its priority, right now nothing mattered more to the female than Keeli’s safety. She promised, upon the dying breaths of her mother she promised that even as Inaria should burn to the ground, no matter what happens, she will always be there to protect her. Swiftkill would never forgive herself if she were to break that promise. Losing herself in her thoughts had been a terrible price to pay if she had not dodged the obsidian blade of a spear that was suddenly shoved in her direction. Her teeth gritted as the sharp edge sliced into her shoulder, her eyes narrowed ferociously at the two leg that she would soon dispatch into the netherworld. With a battle cry, he retracted his spear and attempted one more time to run the burgundy she-wolf through, however this time she was ready for him. Dodging to the side, she leaped forward sunk her fangs into his wrist causing him to drop his spear from the pain. Using the momentum that she had generated from the leap, she pulled the arm right out of its socket and swung herself onto his back, wrapping the man's arm around his neck and silencing his irksome screaming. No longer able to support her weight, his legs gave way, his rear coming in contact with the ground. Letting go of the man's wrist, she locked her jaws around the back of man's head and with a hard twist, she snapped it right off the spine.
The human was dead even before the burgundy she-wolf had caught the sights of something in the distance. From the shady silhouettes, she could tell that the one standing upright was human, before him were two wolves at the mercy of his bow. It was not until she took a closer look at the wolves did she she feel her heart freeze.
“KEELI!”
Without a moment to spare, she tore up the very terrain, pushing her muscles to their very limits as she sprinted in the direction of her little sister. The sandy pelted fae could only whimper pathetically before the human, hoping that it would inspire sympathy.
“So, begging for your life now are you? Nice try, however you will get no mercy from me. Say goodnight little girl...” said Orion, his smirk growing ever so twisted by the second.
An frightened gasp escaped her, unwilling to continue looking death in the eyes, she closed her own and gritted her teeth. Whimpering loudly as he buried her face in Grayback's fur, awaiting the promised of pain and the emptiness of oblivion that is soon to come.
“Keeli!... KEELI!” Swiftkill cried after her.
Just a little father, just a little faster, she was almost there... she could almost taste the blood of that human. Her lips curled and her fangs barred in fury, how she longed to make him regret every minute that disgusting whore had pushed him from her womb. Like the blood caked upon her fur, her vision began fade into the redness. She thought of nothing, felt nothing more but the intense will to rip, tear and mince his flesh from his bones and wet the earth with his guts. Yes, he will die for threatening her sister, he will die terribly indeed.
SCHAMP!
“ARGH!”
She was only halfway there when an arrow had caught her in her right hind leg, tripping her right into the ground. Immediately, she tried desperately to climb to her paws but only to fall again and again. It was no use, the arrow had had immobilized her leg completely, even the sensation in her paws had begun to cease. The she-wolf fears that the tip had probably been coated with some sort of poison. Realizing that she could no longer stand, her panicked eyes reverted back to to that of her sister. Orion had stretched the the bow to its very limits, this time he had no intention of missing.
“KEELI!” Swiftkill cried, her voice shrill with desperation. She tried once again to pick herself up it was just no use. All she could do is lie there helplessly and watch as her own sister is killed before her very eyes.
“NO!... STOP!... PLEASE!” she pleaded. Feeling her tears of despair began to pour from her eyes, her front paws digging into the earth, using the last of her strength to inch herself across the surface of the mud.
“Keeli!... no... no... no stop... please... oh Spirits above no...”
“If you want to scream, I mean howl or do whatever you it is you do to call for help, best do it now. Even so, no wolf, no valiant hero is going to come running to your side, NOW…”
“Help me… help me… help me… HELP ME… SOMEBODYYYYYYYYYYYY!!!!!!!” yelled Keeli
“DIE!” cried Orion, inevitably leading into an eruption in a hail of high pitched maniacal laughter.
“KEELI!... NOOOOOOOO!!!!!”
It has been said that when faced with your last moments, your lives flashes before your very eyes. To the wolves, time itself seemed to have slowed down to the very fractions of a second right then and there. Images of the past and the thoughts of ifs inspiring the never ending will to change those events. If time had been allowed to run its natural course, it would only lead to the eventual loss and despair of a sister and a sovereign she had failed to protect. However, the Great Spirits worked in mysterious ways, what happens next would set in motion a drastic chain of events that will alter the fate of Inaria forever.
Just as those arrows were about to leave the brace of his fingers, he was alerted to the sounds of something approaching him. Whatever it was, it was large and it was moving fast, almost too fast to be any creature he had hunted in the past. It was not till Orion had turned to the source of the sound did his laughter fade into the silence, his gaze barely catching what appeared to be a long tattered cloak soaring in his direction at a blinding speed as if defying the likes of time itself. The raindrops appeared static to the masked man, a tenth of a second had denied him even the slightest chance to react. Twirling upon its axis, the last thing Orion saw was a streak of white flashing before his very eyes.
“UARGH!”
It came from within the cloak, something resembling that of a man's boot smashed right through the ebony bow, its raw power reduced even the blackened arrows into nothing more than useless shreds of broken splinters before coming into full contact with his face. The impact was so powerful, the initial force had lifted him several inches off the ground. The sounds of his fractured porcelain mask, cracking and shattering beneath the sole of the boot. In an instant, he was sent several feet into the air and eventually smacking right into the ground. His body now numb and nimble continued to roll across the mucky terrain until, like everything that had been set in motion came to an eventual stop. Illuminated briefly by the flashing lights from above, the great wolf hunter now lay unconscious before the wrath of the storm, in his rigid hands clutched what was left of his magnificent bow.
In the midst of the battlefield, the Captain had readied a call for for his troops to fall back when at that very moment, both the wolves and the humans ceased to a pause. One by one, their astonished gazes settled upon the sights of the ghostly apparition gliding majestically through the air. Upon approaching the two wolves, the tattered cloak began  swirling around them.  
The eyes of the young female remained shut, her body continued to tremble from the fear. It was only when the feeling of cold steel penetrating the likes of her heart had failed to make a timely appearance did she dare to take a small peek at her surroundings. But what she saw immediately bewildered her enough to expose her emerald green hues, her jaw left agape by the sight of the white spread, growing larger and larger with every turn. It was bizarre, the way it hovered in mid air, it was almost as if it had a life of its own.
“What... wha...”
No sooner did she mutter those words did the cloak began spiraling before her very eyes. The moment it started to unravel itself did she gasped in absolute shock. From the the streams of rainwater that ran effortlessly down the glossy surface of his coat, reflected upon the glistening surface of hues of emerald green was the image of a human. Before long, it had struck her like the bolts of lightning that flashed in the skies above.
“It’s him… I can't believe it, it's him... it’s the hooded human from last night” Keeli thought.
It was not a dream, it was not a hallucination and the fatigue had not driven her to the brink of madness. He was real, not an apparition, not born from her rather colorful imagination but made of actual flesh and blood. Inevitably, the questions she had silenced the night before had resurfaced once again and this time more than ever before. She owed him her very life, this human, this mysterious specter from the abyss for rescuing her from the that madman. Although to what did she owe this rescue remains unclear, whether it was purely out of selfless chivalry or was he an ally of those humans in masks, tainted by greed and unwilling to share the the spoils of battle. In the end his intentions were just as obscured as his identity. The sandy pelted fae could only lay there, her gaze unable to leave the the likes of that human now that he was finally close enough to observe. Everything about him was a mystery, the coat, the boots, even the gloved worn over his hands, even the the sheer amount of ebon toned metal that adorned the likes of his garments was unlike anything she had ever seen. Neither man nor beast could deduce his origins for there were no marks of a tribe etched upon his clothes, family insignias usually tattooed upon the faces of men had been shadowed by darkness of his  hood, shrouding even the very color of his eyes. However the one thing that left Keeli absolutely speechless was the the graceful sight of his cloak, drifting freely in the stormy wind, bearing an almost symbolic resemblance to the wings of an eagle.
“Spirits above...” muttered one of the masked men, completely flabbergasted.
“He… he... he got… he got the Master… kicked the living shit outta him… and... and he did it with only one kick!” stammered yet another one.
The fear started to spread amongst the hunters like wildfire and soon their hearts were poisoned with doubt. As far as they knew, Orion had never faltered, never fallen and most definitely never been defeated in battle. Tales had been circulated within the Brotherhood that both wolves and humans alike foolish enough to brave the fangs of their master never lived to speak of it.
“The master has fallen!”
“All is lost! Retreat! Retreat!”
“Death be upon us!”
The frantic cries of panic and hysteria belonged to that of the newer recruits, new and unfamiliar with the horrors and consequences of a battle. Gone was their determination, gone were their oaths and pledges and gone were fires that fueled their hatred. To them, the very thought of vengeance, once considered a beacon for their very purpose has now been lost. Right now, all they wanted to do is live and so like the cowards they are, they tried to make a run for it. To their dismay, they did not get far for they disrupted by the more experienced members they have come to know as Slayers, identified from the variety of markings and colors that had been painted upon the porcelain surface of their masks.  
“Spineless cretins! How dare you disgrace our master with your cowardice!” snarled one of the Slayers.
“Don't be stupid, can't you see Orion has been defeated? We should fall back!” defended one of the newer recruits, his voice bore the tone of a young man in his mid twenties. However his defiance was met with a brutal kick to the stomach. Writhing from the pain, the young man took a tumble to the ground. Even before he could recover, the Slayer had forced him onto his back and without compassion for his fellow hunter, he slammed  the leather sole of his boot onto his chest. The young man felt his very breath forced out of his lungs, leaving him gasping for air. Immediately the recruits had begun to back away, literally stunned by the man's barbaric actions, even more so the moment he strung and arrow to his bow and aimed it to the young man beneath his feet.
“You disgust me” he uttered abhorrently.
Baby blue eyes widened through the slits of his porcelain mask and just as he had thought he was finished, another Slayer, his mask adorned with the reddish mark of a maple leaf had grabbed hold of the bow.         
“That's enough! We've already lost half the platoon and I will not have you jeopardizing this battle just because you couldn't keep your opinions to yourself. As for the lot of you, you will fight or believe me, there will be worse things to fear than the fangs of wolves” the Slayer warned.
“Aye” the new recruits uttered hesitantly.
“Stay here, I'll find out just who or what this hooded bastard is up to”
Silver toned eyes narrowed, feeling his hands began to tighten their grip upon the well crafted hilt of his spear, although a little hesitant, the man began approaching the human in the white cloak, practicing caution in each and every step.  The wolves were confused, what was this human doing attacking his own kind? or more precisely why? Nevertheless, with his motives in question, they kept a weary eye upon on this rather peculiar being.   
The pain, the sorrow, the agony like the shattered shards of a broken promise violently shredded and tore into the very fabric of her soul and it hurt. Far worse than any weapon of man, any fang or claw that had lacerated and scarred her flesh in battles past.
“Keeli...” she uttered though her gritted teeth.
Swiftkill never knew the true meaning of anguish and hopelessness till today, countless times had she offered her condolences to grieving families of her fallen comrades.  She had thought time and time again that she understood their sorrow but in truth she knew absolutely nothing. Her sobs in anger and despair lay caught in her throat, she should have never allowed to come along, she should have ran faster, she should have dodged that arrow, she should have saved her, how her thoughts of regret drove her mind further and further into turmoil.
“Keeli… Keeli, forgive me… I’m so sorry… I tried...I couldn't save you…I couldn't save anyone... I'd...” she sobbed
Swiftkill could still hear it, she could hear her calling her name, her eyes wide and her paws outstretched, crying for her sister to come rescue her, clinging to the unfaltering hope that she would come even if the heavens should fall upon this very earth. However the painful the truth remains, Keeli was dead, she was her world, her life and she was  gone and a part of the burgundy wolfess with her. It took some time before Swifkill could summon the courage to open her eyes, to lay them upon the tragic aftermath. Her tears of desolation continued to flow, flushed away by the pouring rain. Those emerald green hues of hers were hesitant although the moment they settled upon the very ground where Keeli laid, it was not the gruesome sights of the bleeding, lifeless corpse of beloved sister she had expected to find. She laid aghast, bewildered by the the sights  of  the mysterious figure in the distance however what she saw behind him, brought the very sun back to her darkened world.  
“KEELI!” cried Swiftkill.
Tears once cried with sorrow now filled with such joy, feeling her heart soar once more. Praise be to the Spirits, her sister was alive. May it be a miracle, a coincidence, an act of compassion she did not know how or why neither did she care, Keeli, her precious Keeli was alive.
“Great Spirits… mother, thank you…”


((To be continued...))